Always

Chapter Ten

Two years ago...

"Maia, I am done discussing this."

"But, Father!" Blonde hair was tossed over a rounded shoulder haughtily. "I don't see how this is an unreasonable request!"

"I have answered. No." Draco walked out of the dining room and into the hall. He rolled his eyes when he heard the soft steps coming right after him. He moved into his study where Harry sat with Azeas and Bran. Harry looked up with a smile and then grimaced when Maia came in immediately behind Draco.

"The battle still on then?" he asked.

"Dad, please. I don't want to look like a freak because I don't have one."

Draco chuckled and sat down at his desk. Harry pursed his lips and tipped his head at their daughter. "Maia, if you are going to play that card, I wouldn't be so blatant about it."

"Yeah, or so tedious about it either," Azeas stated from behind one of his books. Draco cocked an enquiring eyebrow at his husband. Harry merely shook his head with an eye roll. Azeas always had a way with words and his head in books.

"Yeah, you're already a freak," his brother chimed in with a laugh.

"Bran, stop it," Harry admonished. Maia threw a nasty look at her brothers and went back to pleading her case.

"Daddy," she began again, using the childish term in a desperate bid to get her Father's agreement. "I really will be a freak if I can't get one! I'll be completely unfashionable and will be laughed out of school!"

"All that, eh?" Draco pulled out his work papers and stacked them on his desk. "Maia, far be it for me to deny you anything, but this is going to be a no. You can't have everything you want."

"Why? Why can't I?"

Draco opened his mouth and shut it again before turning to his husband. "You'll have to field this, love. I never can answer this one."

Harry shot him a disgusted look and stood up to face his daughter. "Maia, if everything was handed to us, we would never appreciate anything. Sometimes it's the effort that we put into achieving our goals that make them worth something."

"But I thought we gave our all to the ones we love?" she asked with a pathetic look. "Don't you love me?"

"Nice try." Harry walked past her to the bookshelves. Maia clenched her fist and her blonde hair flipped to the other shoulder.

"I will be the only one without one!"

"No one has them. They won't even be on the market until Monday next," Draco pointed out in frustration. "And regardless of whether or not you want one, I still had to go through court hearings on the safety of the damn thing. The first three prototypes exploded!"

"Well, now they have it fixed." When that simple sentence didn't seem to do the trick, Maia switched tactics. She came round the desk and leaned in close to her father. "Father, don't you think I could completely smash the Gryffindors into the ground with it? I could win the Quidditch Cup!"

"You did this, you know." Harry sauntered by with a knowing look. "I told you several times that you and your father were still spoiling her."

Draco made a face at Harry, making Bran giggle, then he turned back to Maia. "My darling poppet, I will make a deal with you. You score top marks by Christmas Holiday and perhaps you will find that broom under the tree."

"But we passed Christmas Holiday! It's Easter Holiday now!"

"Yes, well, you have plenty of time to study for your fifth year then."